EU General Comment - HRC60 - Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons

EU General Comment - HRC60 - Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons

UN Human Rights Council

60^th Session - Item 3

L.8 - General Comment

Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons

EU General Comment

Mr. President,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the EU Member States that are members of the Human Rights Council. This statement has been agreed by the EU as a whole.

We welcome the core group´s initiative to present Resolution L.8/Rev.1. Both sides of the new mandate, trafficking in persons as well as contemporary forms of slavery, are often two unfortunate sides of the same coin and revolve around a simple truth: no person should ever be treated as a commodity. The EU welcomes the holistic approach the new merged mandate can take on these complementary issues, while ensuring adequate attention to each.

The EU furthermore commends the core group for taking the lead and setting an excellent example on how to tackle pressing rationalization needs. This is the first time in the history of this Council that two existing mandates will be merged. We hope that this will inspire other core groups to think outside the box and take such necessary steps. To keep this Council and the mandated work of the Office of High Commissioner operational in times of the liquidity crisis requires all member states to constantly evaluate mandates for synergy and efficiency gains.

The EU therefore supports this resolution as drafted and hopes for its consensual adoption.

Thank you.